There is something which I frequently come across when working with clients which always surprises me.

For example, a sculptor will be willing to hand over their precious wood, clay or metal sculpture to a specialist who will create a mold and make a bronze version.

A painter or photographer will be happy to hand their work over to a specialist framer.

A composer will hand over their music to an arranger.

They will be happy to trust their deeply personal and irreplaceable work to a professional who will use their expertise and experience to complete or enhance the work and the creative is happy to let that happen.

But often, that creative person will not have thought about getting an accountant to do all the boring but necessary paperwork which most people dislike.

Or a marketer who can run their social media campaign or research and contact potential galleries/exhibitions.

Or a fundraiser who can write funding applications on their behalf.

Or an assistant who can run their studios for them.

When setting goals, creative people will think about getting a workspace, a great commission or being in a position to hire creative specialist help. However, they don't seem to think about also aiming to get someone to do all the more mundane but essential day to day stuff which would free them up to be more creative (and potentially earning more money).

This can be for various reasons, including:

they just hadn't thought about it

they think it will be too expensive

they think they have to run every aspect of their business themselves

they think it is too indulgent to hire others "just" to help them

they can't afford it now

they think goal setting is just about the exciting stuff!

If you are hiring people on a project by project basis, it can work out cheaper than doing the work yourself, time when you could be earning.

When you are starting out, you probably have to do everything yourself and subsequently at every stage, you certainly have to know your own business and be on top of it, but as time goes on, you can delegate.

Not being able to afford it now is also a perfectly valid reason - but how about having a goal such as, "in a year's time, I will be earning enough to hire a book keeper for 2 hours a month"?

For all of its' considerable benefits, working for yourself can be hard work. If you are prepared to have someone help you with the creative work, why not aim towards getting someone to help you with the other stuff as well?